Karma no Jutsu
by Ghostwriter Redux
Summary: It is said that the legendary dojutsu, the Rinnegan, only appears before times of great change. Wielders are sent from the heavens to either calm the world's disorder or reduce everything to ashes. It is named for Samsara, the cycle of reincarnation, which makes Mirai Senju's entire situation just that little bit more ironic…OC-insert. Pairing: Undecided.
1. One

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Masashi Kishimoto does. I only own my OC and make no profit from writing this, savvy?

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" _I'm a great believer in the hereafter, in karma, in reincarnation. It does make sense. I believe that God is not just a law-giver, but a creative artist. The greatest of all. And what characterizes artists is that they want to redo their work. Maybe it didn't come off perfectly, so they want to see it done again, and improved. Reincarnation is a way for God to improve his earlier works."_

 _-Norman Mailer_

* * *

"Hurry Hotaru. They're coming."

"I-I am-!" she gasped, clutching her precious cargo tighter to her person as she followed closely behind her husband. "We're not going to make it. Takeo is tracking us."

Naoki suppressed a cringe at his wife's words. Hotaru was a brilliant sensor and trained dozens of newly minted shinobi in the craft before the 'Incident' occured. Takeo was among those trainees, Hotaru having dubbed him the most promising sensor to emerge from Konohagakure since the Nidaime Hokage.

Naoki hung his head in despair. He liked to think he was old and wise enough to recognize a Catch-22 when he was presented with one. With a heavy heart he announced their next course of action.

"Hotaru, give her to me."

"What? Why!?" He admired her fierce protectiveness over their daughter but now was not the time to be disagreeing with one another.

"I'm faster," was all he said, heart lodging painfully in his throat at the defeated look in her crimson eyes, knowing what he spoke was the truth. She slowed to a walk, lower lip quivering as she looked at the bundle in her arms.

Hotaru lowered her head, brushing a kiss over their daughter's forehead, whispering something to her Naoki couldn't hear before looking at him with surprisingly dry eyes. "I can buy you time. Not much with how low my chakra levels are but it should be enough to give you safe passage to Konoha."

"I know," he murmured, raking a hand back through his disheveled hair and choking back what would have been a pitiful sob at the thought of Hotaru dying for him.

No, not him.

She wouldn't die for him.

She would die for Her.

Hotaru didn't waste another moment, handing their daughter off to him. He secured the sling around his neck, resting her snug against the front of his flak jacket and cradling her head carefully.

He looked up at his wife, unable to convey what he wanted to say in words and instead hugged her close, pressing a kiss to the crown of her snowy head.

"I love you Hotaru," he murmured, releasing her as she stepped back, resting a hand on her hip.

"I know," she replied impishly, smile all dimples before turning her back to him. "You always were a crybaby Nao."

"You haven't called me that since our ANBU days," he chuckled, scrubbing the tears in his eyes away with his sleeve as she rested her palm on the ground, summoning an abnormally large leopard to her side before it slunk away into the trees.

"You'll be detained at the gates. Tell the guards she is my daughter. They won't let you in but maybe they will take her to my cousin. Her name is-."

"I remember Hotaru."

Her smile became grim when she sensed two chakra signatures slowly creeping their way. "Till next time."

He didn't waste another moment collecting chakra beneath his feet to perform a shunshin, carrying them far from the battle that was about to commence.

He knew as well as she did that there wouldn't be a 'next time'.

Naoki flinched as her chakra signature was suddenly snuffed out like a flame a few minutes later, swallowing thickly before hearing a soft whimper come from the bundle against his chest.

"Hush Mirai," he murmured though she continued crying, soft hiccoughs bubbling past her lips. He wondered if somehow she knew what had happened and after a moment added on a quiet, "I miss her too."

Mirai had always been a surprisingly alert baby. He wanted to attribute that to his family's kekkei genkai, which allowed its wielder to use more of their cerebral capacity than a normal person. It accelerated their thought processes and gave them the ability to quickly assimilate and make sense of large quantities of information. It was a passive ability, certainly not as flashy as some Konoha possessed but he felt it was far more useful than bloody pinwheel eyes.

He had to stifle a chuckle at the thought. It seemed Hotaru had rubbed off on him more than he originally realized.

Call it parental intuition but somehow he just knew his bloodline limit wasn't the cause of her advanced state of mind.

Not half an hour later did the gates of the Leaf Village come into view. He could sense muted chakra signatures in the trees around him, ANBU studying him to determine whether he was a threat that needed to be eliminated.

Naoki slowed to a stop before the gates, not daring to step a foot past them. A few moments' later two chunin keepers came out to meet him.

"State your name and business if you would."

' _So cordial_ ,' he mused to himself, lips pressing into a thin line. ' _The Leaf nin have gotten too comfortable under the 4th Hokage's reign. I could kill them where they stood and they wouldn't even realize they were dead till their bodies hit the ground_.'

Naoki ignored the way his fingers absently twitched towards his shuriken holster (after all; once a ninja, always a ninja) and instead answered as politely as he could, "My name is Naoki Reizei. I am a former Jonin of Kusagakure. My family was recently attacked while en route to your village by a pair of nuke nins-."

"Nuke nins?" the female echoed in surprise.

"Yes. It was my wife's wish that we return to her home village in order to raise our daughter," he replied, shifting said-daughter in his arms when she started getting fussy again.

He noticed the chunin flinch when he did so, hands twitching towards hidden weapons on their persons and had to suppress a chuckle.

' _Jumpy little things, aren't you_?'

"Where is your wife then, sir?" Naoki gave the male that had asked him that an empty stare.

"My wife was killed by about 18 kilometers outside your village by our pursuers."

To their credit the two Leaf nins didn't even flinch at his hollow words. And to think he had them all pegged as bleeding hearts, save for Hotaru.

"What was your wife's name?" the taller chunin asked, producing a scroll from his hip pouch and unsealing it.

"Hotaru Senju. Her cousin's name is Tsunade Senju."

The Leaf shinobi exchanged uneasy looks before the woman addressed him, "Tsunade Senju severed all ties with the village following the Second Shinobi War. As far as the Leaf Village is concerned she has no allegiance to us any longer."

Naoki grit his teeth, swallowing the lump in his throat at the news. So much for that idea…

He glanced down at Mirai who had chosen that moment to look up at him with dark amber eyes so similar to Hotaru's. Had she been born with white hair Mirai would have been a dead ringer for his wife (he suppressed the urge to wince at his choice of wording).

It was silent for several moments before he gathered his thoughts enough to be able to speak again, "Is-is there really nothing you can do for her?" His voice was barely above a whisper and he hated himself for showing such weakness.

The gatekeepers exchanged looks once more. A moment passed before the male spoke. "We don't have the security clearance necessary to approve such a decision."

"Then can I speak to someone who does?"

"That would be me." Naoki looked up in surprise at the sudden arrival of the village's Hokage. He hadn't even sensed him approaching but if he could then the man obviously wasn't worthy of the title 'Hokage' was he?

The former Grass nin bowed slightly at the waist before straightening. "My name is Naoki Rei-."

"I know who you are," the Yondaime cut him off midsentence. "As a former ANBU member surely you know the hazards of allowing foreign ninjas sanctuary, especially so soon after wartime."

"I do though it's been over a year and a half since the war. Surely you do not hold onto grudges that long, especially against your allies," Naoki managed to say evenly though the Yondaime didn't rise to his bait. "Regardless, I'm not asking for asylum for myself. I just want my daughter to be safe."

"Daughter?" the Yondaime echoed, only then seemingly noticing the bundle he was carrying.

"Her name is Mirai Senju."

At the casual drop of her last name Naoki could practically see the wheels turning in the Yondaime's head as he rested a hand on his hip. The Senju Clan was all-but extinct, the name more prevalent in history books as opposed to bingo books. If word got out that the famed 'Yellow Flash' refused sanctuary to a newborn member of the village's founding clan-

Well, Naoki could only assume it wouldn't go over well for his popularity.

"She has no living family left aside from you." It was more of a statement than a question though Naoki addressed it as such.

"Pretty much," he murmured, feeling a sharp pang in his chest at the thought of his wife. "Since I was just informed Tsunade-hime no longer lives in Konoha."

"She has not been seen or heard from in years," the Yondaime agreed, folding his arms loosely over his chest and examining the child. "She will be subjected to a DNA test to confirm she is indeed a Senju."

"Like I would lie about something like that?" Naoki spat before pulling a deep breath of cool air into his lungs. He'd always had a bad temper but knew throwing a fit would not do Mirai any favors in getting into the village and calmed himself quickly.

"She will be raised personally by myself and my wife until she reaches six years of age. At that time she will be enrolled in our ninja program and allowed to live at the Senju Compound with a caretaker."

"I understand." He hated the thought of Mirai growing up to be another mindless soldier but it was better she grew up that way than not at all.

"For her sake I certainly hope so," the Yondaime replied, nodding to the female chunin. She trotted forward cautiously, extending her arms towards him and waiting to receive his daughter.

Naoki clung tighter to the bundle in his arms, turning his back to the Leaf ninjas. He pressed a kiss to Mirai's forehead, hearing her whimper once more. "Be strong Mirai. Your mother and I love you, don't ever forget that."

She giggled, almost as though she could understand what he had said. With a heavy heart Naoki faced the Leaf ninjas, allowing the woman to take his daughter from him before producing a small scroll. "I know you will investigate what is in this scroll. It is a summoning contract that my family passed down to the eldest child. Will you give it to her when she turns of age?"

"Sure," the Namikaze said, taking the scroll from him and turning it over in his gloved hands.

"Thank you Hokage-sama," Naoki said, sinking to his knees and resting his forehead on the ground in a formal saikeirei. It was degrading but he had no other way to show his appreciation to the man who would save his daughter's life.

"Please stand Reizei-san. Such thanks are unnecessary," the Yondaime said with a soft smile.

Naoki accepted the hand outstretched towards him and stood.

"Thank you again Hokage-sama. Now if you'll excuse me I have some rats to take care of," Naoki trailed off, casting one last longing look in Mirai's direction before a swift shunshin carried him out of the Leaf ninja's sight and his daughter's life.

\/

Mirai Senju would then proceed to cry for hours after her father left and it was only when ANBU Agents discovered his corpse alongside those of missing nins Juro Ogura and Takeo Aida would they understand why…

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This story will contain an OC some will probably consider a 'Mary Sue' by the summary alone. However, I don't think she is though there is a certain level of biasness behind that statement since I am the author after all. The road to being a ninja will not be easy for her by any means. So yeah. I've read a few fics about characters having Rinnegan (That aren't Naruto/Sasuke) and I'm taking immense creative liberties with this one. I hope it works out the way I want it to. If not it was worth a try, right? All I ask is that you read this with an open mind and give it a chance. Your opinions matter me as well. I know there isn't enough information here to form a solid opinion about the story just yet so bear with me for the next few chapters if you'd be so kind. Thanks for reading everyone.


	2. Two

A/N: I wasn't anticipating such a huge reader response to this *blushes*. I hope I don't disappoint. Thank you Arianna Le Fey, lagoon childe, Duesal Bladesinger, Guest, and Lulumo for reviewing and thanks to those who've favorited/followed this.

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Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Kishimoto does, savvy? I only own Mirai/any other random OC that pops up and make no profit from this.

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"We can't keep her Minato."

Minato Namikaze, the Yondaime Hokage, the Yellow Flash and all around badass of Konohagakure withered beneath his wife's powerful gaze.

"B-but-," he stammered, looking at the sleeping bundle in his arms. It had taken nearly four hours and the tiniest application of iryo chakra to quiet the infant. It was almost if she knew what had transpired earlier. Bear had informed him that Naoki Reizei's body was found eight kilometers outside the gates alongside the missing nins he had mentioned.

He had them broaden their search though all they brought back of Hotaru Senju was her bloodied headband, tantō, and a sealed scroll, the rest of her in too small of pieces to even attempt salvaging…

"I know you have only the best intentions in mind but the shinobi council will not approve, you know that," Kushina said quietly, resting a hand on his forearm. He hung his head at those words.

"I didn't even think about the council when I-," he paused, sinking down onto the couch. She sat down as well, her pregnant belly hindering her a bit as she curled up beside him. "I can't put her in an orphanage. It would be disrespectful to her ancestors."

"We can't adopt her," Kushina said once more, looking down at the child her husband was cradling protectively to his chest. Her heart clenched painfully and she tore her gaze from the infant.

Minato frowned slightly. Mirai hadn't even been with them for a few hours and he could already tell Kushina had fallen in love with the girl. The pair was silent for several minutes before Minato came to a decision.

"To hell with what the council says. As the Hokage, I am well within my right to offer housing to a member of our village's most prestigious family. With Hotaru dead and Tsunade's defection she is the heiress of the Senju Clan. We will raise her as our own until she is old enough to make her own decisions."

"Somehow I don't think the council will agree with your way of thinking," Kushina replied with a wry little grin. "But I'm up for the challenge."

A relieved smile spread over Minato's face. "Do you want to hold her?"

"Um, yeah?" Kushina replied, holding her hands out and wiggling her fingers in a sort of 'gimme' gesture. Minato smiled wider at her eagerness, handing over the baby. "Oh, she smells so good and her chakra-it's like wind; as calm as a summer breeze but as destructive as a hurricane. Must be her Senju ancestry. This little one will grow up strong. What's her name?"

"Her name is Mirai."

"Future, huh? Your parents expected great things of you, didn't they?" Kushina addressed the slumbering Mirai, nuzzling her lightly. "I can already tell you won't disappoint them."

"Where's Kakashi? I told him not to leave you unattended."

"He's…visiting." Minato frowned in understanding, running a hand back through his disheveled golden hair. "And I'll have you know I'm more than capable of looking after myself, pretty boy."

He winced at the scolding before straightening. "I need to head to the hospital and have them give her a DNA test. We can face the rest of the world tomorrow."

"Aw, okay," the Uzumaki pouted, moving to stand before hesitating, resting a hand over her swollen stomach.

"What is it Kushina?" he asked, taking the Senju girl from his wife as she nervously wet her lips.

"Ah, well. I-I think I'm going into labor Minato-kun," she said calmly, feeling a thin trickle of liquid run down her inner thigh. "My water just broke."

His eyes practically bulged out of his head at those words as he looked from her to Mirai and back to her again.

Kushina arched a slender crimson brow when he darted into the nursery. "What are you doing?" she called, carefully navigating herself towards the room and seeing him lay the child in the crib.

"She will be fine here. I'm going to get Bird to watch over her while we get you to Biwako-san, okay?"

"Okay but less talk more action," Kushina said between gritted teeth. Her contractions seemed to intensify several-fold and she leaned on the doorway for support. Damn jinchuriki pregnancies…

"S-sorry," he stammered, rubbing the back of his head and looking every bit the nervous soon-to-be father he was. "Let's go."

He lifted her into his arms with ease, withdrawing a hiraishin kunai from his pouch as the pair vanished into thin air.

* * *

Mirai Senju didn't remember much of her previous life.

In some twisted way she was grateful she didn't. It had made this entire process just a little bit easier.

What little time she hadn't spent sleeping during her first three months of life she spent trying to connect the dots and make sense of the jumbled memories in her head before her infant body dragged her under for another nap.

What stuck out the most in her hodgepodge of memories for some reason was that of a blond-haired, whisker-faced boy name Naruto Uzumaki.

Her memory of the Naruto series was fuzzy at best. She had watched the series up until Shippuden before The Illness caught up with her and she spent most of her time in the hospital.

The last thing she remembered was a nurse hovering over her bed, prepping her for a bone marrow transplant and then-

Nothing.

If her parents had taught her anything worthwhile it was not to take things for granted. Therefore she decided to make the best out of a bad situation and take her second chance with as much grace as she could (even if she was in a world that was supposed to be purely fictitious).

At least that had been the plan up until about six hours earlier.

Her parents were dead, she was currently in the care of Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki who were going to be dead soon, and she was probably going to be killed during the Kyuubi rampage that should be happening in the next few hours or so.

She scrunched her face up, soft sobs escaping her as she damned her shitty luck.

"Hush little one. They will be back shortly," she heard a man say from above her. Her eyesight wasn't quite developed enough to see who it was but she could just make out the edges of a mask on his face.

An ANBU agent? Well, didn't she feel special…

She raised her tiny arms, indicating she wanted to be held. She was craving human contact, even if it was from a stranger, and was more than a little upset when he didn't pick her up.

As soon as she opened her mouth to begin wailing her displeasure he started humming. Mirai noticed small orbs of light hovering over her, spinning slowly in time with his humming.

Her eyelids began drooping and she wondered if he had cast an illusion on her or something. The humming was low and dulcet, downright hypnotic. She could feel it vibrating in her ribcage, a feeling she had gotten once before at a rock concert when she was in her teens.

It was soothing and she couldn't keep a yawn from escaping her lips. Mirai felt warmth spread from her abdomen to her limbs, her chakra stirring a bit in response to his before settling once more.

Chakra was strange. There was no real way she could describe it. From what she remembered chakra was the combination of spiritual and physical energy. It was carried though the body by a set of veins separate from the bloodstream and expelled from the body via tenketsu.

And…that was literally all she knew about chakra.

Due to her Senju ancestry she figured she'd have a shit-ton of chakra to play with later on, seeing as how her father had come from a long line of shinobi as well. She would probably end up specializing in ninjutsu and taijutsu since neither required precise chakra control. A bit, sure, but not the extent needed for genjutsu or medical ninjutsu.

Mirai had briefly entertained the thought of being a medic-nin before discarding it. She wanted to be on the front lines. That was the entire reason why she had been training to be a police officer in her previous life. She would dabble in it though. After all, if she was able to heal herself she could fight longer.

At two months of age Mirai discovered her body was built far differently than it had been. She'd had more control over her physical body than she had thought possible for someone her age. The thought that her body had been made for combat was both an exhilarating and frightening one. She decided very early on when she realized she was in the world of Naruto that she would travel the path of the kunoichi. It would assure her somewhat of a decent lifespan, if nothing else. Civilians died too easily and she didn't want that for herself.

She would never be helpless again.

* * *

She had spoken too soon.

Shortly after she had been fed and her babysitter tucked her in for the the evening (bless him) did she sense the Kyuubi's arrival.

The chakra was absolutely overwhelming, bone crushing and nauseating.

She could feel malice hanging like a miasma in the air, choking her and driving her mad.

Mirai opened her mouth to scream but no sound would come out. All she could do was lie in her crib, staring wide-eyed at the ceiling and hoping by some miraculous twist of fate someone would save her.

It went on for what seemed like an eternity but in reality had to have been no more than an hour at the most.

When ANBU came across her the next morning (she would later find out that Bird had been trampled by the beast, poor bastard) they were at a loss for what to do with her. No one had been informed of Mirai's presence in the village and under Hiruzen Sarutobi's orders they sent her off to live in one of the many temporary orphanages that had cropped up overnight until they figured out what to do with her.

Mirai discovered she was one of the luckier ones (not that she viewed it that way). Many infants and younger children had been killed when they were exposed to the Kyuubi's evil chakra. When she thought about it, it explained why Naruto's graduating class had been so small. Her shinobi family background was probably the only reason she'd avoided being killed by the Kyuubi's chakra that night.

 _Small favors_ , she had thought sourly to herself, being laid in a makeshift basket alongside four crying infants.

Favors? Who was she kidding? She was stuck in Konoha in the body of an infant, the only four people in the entire universe who knew her heritage were dead, and she hadn't the slightest clue what was going to happen to her next so she did the only thing she could in her situation:

Mirai threw her head back and wailed pitifully with the rest of them.

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A bit short, I know. Real Life™ gets in the way. I did more brainstorming than actual writing for this in the hope that I can make this as original as possible. OC-inserts are a tricky thing I've come to find out. The moment I write something I think 'this is such a great idea so it's probably been done before and someone's going to cry 'plagiarism' the moment I post this' and I scrap it (which is another reason it takes me forever between chapters). Anyway, thanks for reading. See ya' next time.


	3. Three

Disclaimer: Kishimoto owns Naruto and friends. I own Mirai. Savvy?

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Being a baby was surprisingly _difficult_ , as odd as it sounds.

She tried matching her milestones (when to crawl, when to talk, when to walk) to those of the other infants around her. There were three other babies in the orphanage she resided in, all the other children were aged anywhere from three to five years old.

Mirai loved being mobile again, waddling around the orphanage on stubby legs as fast as she could. Her still-developing brain picked up on the dialect rather quickly to her surprise and if she behaved one of the caretakers would read to her before bed, allowing her to learn the written language.

She messed with her chakra from time to time, whenever she was put down for a nap. It was comforting, circulating through her entire body and acting as a portable heater. Mirai didn't try anything more extravagant with her chakra. Not that she didn't want to but because she simply _couldn't_.

She had tried the whole 'leaf-sticking' thing but the moment she pushed the faintest bit of chakra into said-leaf it burst into flames. It was getting increasingly difficult to hide the burn holes in her blanket from the matron so she had to give up on it for the time being.

She had _way_ too much freaking chakra for someone her age and not the slightest idea how to begin refining her control over it. Mirai was only three years old, too young to be traipsing around the Leaf Village by herself. She desperately needed reading material on chakra but had no way of getting any, at least not for the next few years or so.

Putting her chakra control attempts on the back burner Mirai turned her focus elsewhere for the time being. When she wasn't napping or bugging Uguisu-san, the Head Matron, for a new picture book she sifted through what memories she still possessed from her previous life.

For her second birthday Uguisu-san had given her a small orange bound notebook to write in. She jotted down everything she remembered prior to her arrival in the Elemental Nations. Instead of writing in English she chose French (having taken four years of the language in high school) and only did so when everyone else was asleep. She wasn't paranoid per se, merely cautious (which, when she thought about it, was just another way of saying 'paranoid').

She remembered snippets from her high school life. She recalled traipsing around in a cheerleader uniform, rallying her classmates and rooting for the football team. Images of her performing a scorpion flashed through her head though the moment she attempted one she pulled a muscle in her lower back and was out of commission for over a week.

During that hellish week Mirai decided she'd work on increasing her flexibility and agility, both of which would leave her less vulnerable to injury when fighting.

Lucky for her she would be able to find a training partner in none other than a startlingly familiar bushy eye-browed boy…

* * *

It was a chilly December morning when Rock Lee was brought to Sukairīchi Orphanage.

Mirai watched with wide golden eyes as the boy was ushered into the warm foyer. She had heard the cooks quietly gossiping that his mother died during the Kyuubi assault and his father was recently killed on what was supposed to have been a diplomatic mission to the Land of Reeds.

He looked so miserable that Mirai couldn't help but befriend him. Unsure of how to approach him she settled on offering him the remainder of her strawberry sherbet and a timid smile.

"T-thanks," he stammered quietly, looking down at the small bowl.

"You're welcome. My name's Mirai Sen-," she trailed off, chewing her lower lip. She had gone the past three years without a surname and made a mental note to request a DNA test when she entered the Academy (As it turned out, Orochimaru was actually the one who had discovered DNA in the Naruto 'verse. Say whatever you wanted about the guy, Mirai had a grudging respect for his scientific side when it didn't involve ritual human sacrifice).

"Huh?"

"Oh. My name's Mirai," she offered him a toothy grin that he didn't return.

"Lee," he replied after a moment, picking up the spoon and taking a tiny bite. The pair sat in silence until he finished eating. By the time that had happened the canteen was empty and everyone was getting ready for the evening activities.

Mirai stood from the bench, brushing the seat of her pants off and resting her hands on her hips. "Did Uguisu-san assign you a room yet?"

"Y-yes. A-14."

"That's right across the hall from mine. I'm in A-15," Mirai stated, tucking a stray strand of dark brown hair behind her ear. "C'mon. I'll show you."

Lee followed her wordlessly down the hall. Upon reaching their designated rooms Momo-san, Uguisu's 'second in command' as it were, exited Lee's.

"Ah, Lee-kun. I've finished moving your effects in," she said with a warm motherly smile.

"Thank you," he replied quietly, bowing stiffly as Momo frowned, kneeling before him.

"If you ever need someone to talk to we are all here for you, okay? The other children living here all had parents that…passed away while fighting for Konohagakure as well." Mirai's eyebrows flew up into her hairline in surprise. She had been completely unaware of that fact.

"Even yours?" It took Mirai a moment before she realized Lee was addressing her. She offered him a weak smile, biting back the urge to tell him they hadn't died for Konoha but Konoha _had_ killed them regardless.

She had entertained the thought of becoming a nuke-nin more than once because of that…

Lee looked at her a moment longer before turning back at Momo. "Thank you Momo-san."

"No problem." Her hand twitched as though she was thinking about resting it on his shoulder though smiled once more instead before standing and heading to the main office.

Mirai shifted her weight from one leg to the other, fiddling with the hem of her sweater nervously before blurting out, "Be my friend?"

"Wh-what?" Swallowing the lump in her throat Mirai soldiered on.

"Do you wanna be my friend? I mean, if you don't it's okay but-," she trailed off, the heat rising in her cheeks as her usual knack for words abruptly deserted her. Why was this so damn difficult?

"O-oh, no. I mean-I want to be friends with you," he sounded like he was reassuring her and she felt a weight lift off her chest.

"Really?"

"Really." Mirai had forgotten how easy it was to become friends as a child. They were so much more open and accepting than adults were. Children took their cues from grown-ups. Hatred and bigotry were learned behaviors, not innate.

"Great!" she settled on saying with a crooked grin. "I'm gonna get ready for bed. If you need anything my door is always open to you."

Mirai extended her hand to him, waiting for him to do the same. Lee did so hesitantly and she hooked her index and middle finger around his, a gesture of friendship among the citizens of Konoha.

With a brief wave Mirai turned her back to him, intent on gathering her bathing supplies and PJs before feeling him touch her elbow gently.

"Th-thank you Mirai-san," his voice was so quiet she almost missed what he had said.

"You're welcome Lee-san," she replied softly, not wanting to scare him off.

He smiled for the first time that evening.

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Short chapter. I'm sorry *bows*. Mirai and Lee are friends now. If there was anyone I'd want to be friends with in the Naruto 'verse it would be him. He has a good heart and a good personality which is more than I can say for some of the characters. Next chapter is when things really kick off so stay tuned. It will also be longer as Mirai finally delves into her training (since she has someone to train with finally). Thank you to those who have reviewed so far. Ya'll are super-duper swish.

Teaser: Mirai swallowed thickly as Lee gave her the most pitiful puppy dog eyes she'd ever seen. "Please train with us Mirai." She looked from Lee to the spandex-clad 'Noble Beast' of Konoha or whatever he called himself standing behind him. "You are more than welcome to join us youthful Mirai-san!" Maybe Tsunade's legendary bad luck was, like, a hereditary thing or something…


	4. Four

A/N: I really, really liked writing this chapter. Let's get into it.

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Disclaimer: I'm not even Japanese so how can I own Naruto? I wouldn't mind a little Kyuubi plushy of my own though…

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One thing Mirai could appreciate about experiencing childhood again was how fast time went by.

Months passed in a blur as she spent the majority of her time playing 'ninja' with the other children in the orphanage and working on her dismal chakra control.

As it turned out scrolls and books about chakra and jutsu techniques were zealously guarded by the village. The only book she'd found about chakra was a picture book at the library for children that didn't tell her anything she didn't already know about it. She wouldn't have access to anything more advanced until she started the academy or became a genin.

"It's a power play," she had told Lee one day when she was going through her katas and he was working on the leaf meditation exercise (she tried to ignore the obvious difficulty he was having with it). She had a little over a year left before she would enter the academy but it was never too early to begin training.

Especially when you considered what they were going to encounter in their generation.

"What do you mean?" he questioned, watching her kick her legs over her head from a bridge and steady her weight on her hands.

"Everything past the basics of ninjutsu isn't written down. It's passed down from Jounin to Genin," she replied, looking up at him as she rested her feet on the top of her head in a scorpion handstand. "Konoha wants us to control us. They teach us how to be strong, how to be ninjas, and then we spend the rest of our lives doing whatever they tell us."

"Careful with that kind of talk Mirai-chan," Lee said, glancing around nervously. She raised a brow before straightening her legs and let them touch the ground, falling onto her back with a soft thump as she allowed her muscles to relax.

Breathing through her nose she gave Lee a cheery smile. "Don't worry Lee. I'm not planning on doing anything stupid."

"I should hope not," he muttered quietly, eliciting a sour glare from Mirai.

They spent the rest of the afternoon in relative silence, lazing beneath the shade tree in the backyard of the orphanage.

"So you-you wanna be a ninja?" Mirai glanced over at the boy lying next to her.

"Yeah. I mean, don't you?" she asked, rolling over onto her stomach and supporting her weight on her elbows.

"I do not think I can," he mumbled softly, not meeting her gaze.

"Are you afraid to? Because of what happened to your parents?" Mirai was very aware of the minefield she started walking into with that question and treaded cautiously.

Lee shook his head 'no' vehemently. "It is not that. I want to be a ninja because I want to defend my home but-."

"But what?" Lee raised his head from the crumpled leaf in his hand, giving her the most forlorn look she'd ever seen.

"I-I can't use chakra and you can't be a ninja without chakra."

Even though she knew that already it still hurt to hear him say it out loud, more than she cared to admit. Lee had become her closest friend in the span of a year and a half and hearing him sound so fucking heartbroken brought tears to her eyes.

"S-sure you can!" she replied hastily, sitting up. "You could be a taijutsu specialist or something! You-you can-."

"You do not understand!" She flinched when he snapped at her, eyes wide in shock for he had never done so before. Lee swallowed thickly, glancing down at his lap. "I did not mean to yell at you. I just want you to know-."

"Know what?"

He inhaled deeply, taking a moment to collect his thoughts before speaking. "You probably do not remember the Nine Tail's attack on the village, not that I remember it any better despite being a year older than you. My mother left to fight on the front lines with her squad and, as you already know, did not come back-."

Mirai sat silently, seeing his eyes grow misty. "My father was a career chuunin and out on a mission during the attack. It was left to my granny to get us to the shelter but she did not move as well as she used to. I was found the next morning by a sensor in my dead granny's arms in the fruit cellar."

"…," she raked a hand back through her hair, blinking back tears and rested her hand atop his, giving it a reassuring squeeze. Actions spoke louder than words after all. It took him a few moments before he was able to continue speaking and when he did his voice was broken.

"I was taken to the hospital for evaluation. They later told my father I was lucky to have been found."

"Why is that?"

"You know many infants were killed after experiencing the Nine Tail's chakra, right?" She nodded slowly. "It was not the malicious aura that killed them so much as the exposure to such a foreign, alien chakra though the malice certainly did not help them."

"Where are you going with this Lee?" she asked though she had a sinking suspicion she knew exactly where he was headed.

"Exposure to such a large amount of alien chakra did irreversible damage to my chakra coils." Mirai sucked in a sharp breath. "I was lucky I had enough chakra in my system that the sensor noticed me before our house caved in upon itself."

"Jesus," she murmured without thinking, curling her knees to her chest and resting her chin on the cap of them. "I'm sorry you had to go through that."

"It is not so much that I cannot use chakra as it is incredibly difficult to do so. I cannot mold it and shape it like you can."

She nodded once more in understanding, biting her lower lip before lunging forward and throwing her arms around him in a tight embrace. He stiffened, not used to such a show of affection from Mirai but relaxed after a moment.

They sat like that for a while until Momo-san called them in for dinner.

"If being a ninja is something you really want to do you'll just have to work harder for it than anyone else. Prodigies aren't born, they're made. There are ninja out there that made a career out of being a taijutsu master alone. I think if you find the right teacher you could turn out to be an incredible shinobi."

"You really think so?" He sounded so hopeful and trusting that she couldn't resist giving him her signature Cheshire grin, looping an arm around his shoulder.

"Oh, I know so." And she really did, not that he needed to know that…

* * *

"Why are we going to the hospital again?" Lee asked, following Mirai closely through the bazaar.

"Because I want to check something. Don't worry, we'll be back before the recruiter shows up," she assured him, golden eyes fixated on her target.

Twice a year a jounin recruiter would make rounds at the orphanages around Konoha. They'd give a spiel about being a ninja, find out who wanted to be one, weed out the hopeful from the hopeless, and if you were lucky you'd get to attend the academy and receive a stipend to help pay for your equipment, housing, and tuition.

For a while Mirai had toyed with the thought of entering the academy early. If she could fast track her way to genin she could avoid being placed in Naruto's graduating class with the 'Rookie Nine'. Maybe she would even be in classes with Lee, which would be just super-duper swish.

The only problem with that was early entrance to the academy was relatively unheard of during times of peace, hence her current mission.

"What are you going to check?"

She slowed to a stop before an alleyway, turning to face him. "I never knew my parents. There are no records of my birth in this village though I was found by ANBU agents in the Yondaime's house after the Kyuubi attack. I want to find out my parentage so I'm going to ask them to perform a DNA test on me and see if they can cross-reference my genes to anyone else's in the village."

"I see," Lee replied, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "You wish to find out if you have any family left."

"I want to know if I come from a line of shinobi, if I have any chance at excelling in the academy."

"There are civilian kids that attend too. I read that the 4th Hokage was actually from a civilian family."

"Was he really?"

"Yes. That is what my father told me before-," Mirai winced when Lee got choked up talking about his dad. She wasn't any good at comforting others and awkwardly patted him on the back, only to have Lee spin around and engulf her in a bone-crushing hug.

"L-Lee-," she managed to choke out, squirming in his grasp.

"O-oh. I am sorry," he stammered, releasing her with a blush (which she pointedly ignored).

"Let's go."

"Yes."

* * *

"You want a what?"

"I would like to request a DNA test and having the results cross-referenced with the ninja of this village," Mirai repeated slowly to the medic-nin who gave her another strange look. It probably didn't help that Mirai was using Lee as an impromptu step stool in order to see over the top of the desk.

"Why?"

"I want to know if there is a chance that I have any family left. I was orphaned after the Nine Tail's attack-," Mirai didn't miss the way the med-nin flinched slightly at the mention of the Kyuubi. "-and I want to know if I am predisposed to lead the life of a shinobi."

"Aren't you a bit…young…to be thinking about your career path?" she asked, not unkindly but just smug enough to make Mirai purse her lips into a frown. "How do you plan on paying for your test?"

"Through my adorably good looks?" Mirai was unable to keep from replying sarcastically, hearing Lee whisper a hushed 'calm down' to her from somewhere near the floor.

The medic-nin arched a brow at the snarky retort before smirking. "You're a feisty one, aren't you? I think we can working something out. You can volunteer twice a week for the next four months and I'll consider your debt fulfilled."

"Work here?" Mirai echoed in surprise before remembering there weren't exactly child labor laws in Konohagakure.

"Not so much work as run errands for the nurses and visit with the patients. Keep them occupied and yes, I do see you over there Hatake. You have one chance to get back to bed before I sedate you for the rest of your stay."

Mirai whirled around, losing her footing and falling to the ground in a tangle of limbs. Once she sorted out which were hers and which were Lee's she just caught a glimpse of a shock of gray hair vanishing out a side door.

"I really hate that man. Brilliant as they come yet-," the medic trailed off with a sigh. "Anyway, do we have a deal?"

"Can you really authorize something like that?"

"Of course I can," the medic replied almost flippantly. "I am Junko Nohara after all."

 _Nohara…?_

 _Like, family to Rin Nohara…?_

"You okay kid? You look like you've seen a ghost," Junko said, waving a hand before Mirai's face.

"I-I'm fine," she squeaked out, clasping her hands before her neatly. "I accept your offer. Thank you, Nohara-san." She bowed at the waist.

"Good, let's get this over with."

* * *

Mirai was told it would take a little over a week or so to get her results back and she was hoping everything went according to plan.

If anything she could pick up on some basic medical ninjutsu during her stint. She wouldn't be able to perform any just yet but she could lay the groundwork for dabbling in the craft later on.

The meeting with the recruiter went as she had expected. She was told she was too young and advised to wait until the following year. Lee had been accepted into the program and was doing rather well. Mirai figured he wouldn't have any problem with the curriculum until they began working on chakra manipulation.

Upon returning home from her fourth day of volunteering she received a large envelope from Uguisu-san with the hospital's stamp on the front of it.

Mirai rushed to her room, taking a seat on her bed and opened the wax seal with shaky hands. She didn't know why she was so damn nervous, it wasn't like she didn't already know she was a Senju but it was something else to see it written on paper.

 _Name: Mirai_

 _Age: 4 years old_

 _DOB: August 4_ _th_

 _Height: 89 cm._

 _Weight: 15 kg._

 _Next of Kin: None_

 _Treatment Performed: DNA Test at patient's request_

 _-Results were processed and cross-referenced with shinobi serving Konohagakure a year prior to her birth._

 _ **NO MATCH FOUND.**_

Her heart plummeted to her toes at those words. Junko had only looked at ninjas serving the village during that year and her mother was had retired from service a little earlier than that to marry her dad. They had been planning on returning to the Leaf Village to raise her before the shit hit the fan.

Junko had to go further back but that would involve a lot of work and Mirai didn't have any way of paying for the information yet. She couldn't really come out and say 'check if I'm a Senju' could she…?

What she didn't understand was how they had no records of her father speaking to Minato or the keepers taking her from him (her luck they all died during the Kyuubi attack). There had to be a paper trail somewhere and she was determined to find it.

Her first stop would be the Senju Compound, which sat largely unused in a corner of the village. From what she knew a portion of it had been sold and was being used occasionally as a dojo for samurai wannabes (probably by Tsunade if she had to guess). She would see if she could find a family tree or any sort of records that had her mother in them.

In a world built on secrets Mirai would quickly become notorious for her ability to unearth them…

* * *

As it turned out the Senju Compound was actually guarded by ANBU agents that didn't take very kindly to a young girl trying to sneak onto the property.

She stammered some stupid ass excuse, like being dared to by some older kids from the orphanage and was hauled back to a very irate Uguisu-san who also didn't take kindly to hearing her charge had trespassed on private property.

Mirai wasn't deterred though. When she wasn't busy with her candy striper rounds at the hospital Lee was usually busy with school meaning she had most of her afternoons to herself. She had started performing recon on the estate and even talked some of the other kids into helping her, saying it was good practice for becoming a ninja.

She staggered the scouts every few days, changing them up to keep ANBU from becoming suspicious and it was never the same kid twice in a row. After a month she had a basic layout of the outer walls and entranceways drawn out in her journal, after three she knew how many ANBU patrolled and their rounds.

Once her volunteering at the hospital was over she asked Junko if she could continue doing so, saying she was considering medical ninjutsu as a career path. It had been a good decision on her part as Junko came to work one day and gave Mirai a picture book on anatomy. It was apparently written by her great-grandfather who was one of the founders of Konoha's hospital in a way to get children interested in medicine early.

Eight months after her first botched attempt to enter her family's estate she finally felt confident enough to try again. She only had a window of 11.3 seconds to get from the trees over the wall and into the front hall before ANBU started up their night rounds. She found it odd that they patrolled the empty compound and wondered what exactly they were protecting, if anything at all.

"Mirai?" she glanced up from her battle plan, seeing Lee at the door to her room.

"Hey!" she greeted him with a smile, sliding off her bed. He had been living in a group home with three other children attending the academy. She rarely saw him anymore and realized his wardrobe had undergone a change.

He looked similar to how he had in the manga as a kid, with his black trousers and light green damask jacket. His hair was long as well, held back in a thick braid that nearly reached his waist. The biggest difference between him and his canon counterpart was that he was grinning from ear to ear.

"Guess what!?" he practically shouted. Mirai recoiled slightly, pressing her fingertips to her temple.

"What?"

"I want you to meet someone!"

"Who?"

"Come on!" Mirai had very little warning to steady herself as Lee grabbed her wrist and took off down the hall. She flailed around almost comically behind him, trying to get her footing while Lee dragged her out the door of the orphanage and towards the training ground part of Konoha.

The training grounds were a good mile or two outside of the village proper in order to prevent any accidents from training mishaps and what have you. Lee had finally released her and allowed her to run behind him. She kept pace easily enough though figured he wasn't trying all the hard.

"I want you to meet my new senpai."

"Your new what…?"

"Ah, Lee! It's wonderful to see you again! And I see you've brought a friend with you!"

 _Oh._

 _Oh no._

 _Oh no, no, no, no, no…_

"She will be attending the academy in a few months. Would it be possible for her to sit in on some of our training sessions from time to time?"

"But of course my adorable kouhai!"

"N-nah, I'm-I'm good for now, really," she choked out, taking a step backwards, trying not to break into a run.

Mirai swallowed thickly as Lee gave her the most pitiful puppy dog eyes she'd ever seen. "Please train with us Mirai." She looked from Lee to the spandex-clad 'Noble Beast' of Konoha or whatever he called himself standing behind him.

"You are more than welcome to join us youthful Mirai-san!" Maito Gai proclaimed quite enthusiastically, giving her a thumbs up and an exuberant smile that nearly blinded her, complete with the 'ping' sound too.

Maybe Tsunade's legendary bad luck was, like, a hereditary thing or something.

As Gai sent Lee on his way to complete a few dozen laps he sat down with Mirai.

"How old are you Mirai?"

"I just turned five a couple months ago."

"I know you are a bit young to think about what you wish to specialize in but if you have any idea it could help me draw up a training plan that would suit you," Gai said, sounding the most serious she'd ever heard him.

It was like he actually cared about her future and that was truly encouraging thought.

"I have a lot of chakra, like…more than what somebody my age should have. I want to specialize in ninjutsu since I have the chakra for it but taijutsu also has a certain appeal to it. I want to be fast, really fast. I also wanna learn medical ninjutsu so I'm able to fight for longer but I don't think I'll have the finite control necessary until way later on. I tried the leaf meditation exercise but they only catch on fire and Uguisu-san gets upset and…yeah," she finished, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly.

"You seem like you've given this a lot of thought Mirai. I'm impressed. You shouldn't be too concerned about your large chakra stores and lack of control. You are still very young and will have lots of time to grow," Gai mused, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Unfortunately I specialize in taijutsu arts. I'm not someone you could really talk to about ninjutsu or genjutsu. But what I can do is give you some chakra control exercises and lessons in bukijutsu if you're up to it?"

"Weapon arts?" she echoed nervously. "I don't know if I possess the coordination for something like that."

"We won't use actual weapons until you feel comfortable enough," he assured her, resting a hand on her head. "I don't have a lot of time to spend with you or Lee today as I'm being sent on a mission for the next two weeks or so but I can teach you something to help with your chakra control. It should keep you busy until I get back."

"Really?" she exclaimed excitedly.

"Really. Usually genin begin with the tree walking exercise because it's used to stimulate and expand your chakra pools. You already have a lot of chakra so we're going to move on to the next stage."

"Which is?"

"Water walking."

* * *

A lot of information in this chapter. I hope I'm not moving too quickly with Mirai's delving into her training (But then again, Kakashi became a genin at five and Mirai's just starting out) and I think Gai would take her seriously unlike a few other adults that would brush her off and tell her to wait. After all, he did teach Lee how to open the Eight Inner Gates xD. I know Gai didn't approach Lee so in Mirai's Naruto 'verse Lee sought Gai out thanks to Mirai encouraging him to find a teacher if that makes sense? She gives him confidence he didn't possess in canon (at least, not until his Genin years).

Thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far [Juliedoo, DarkDust27, grifman275, Luna LS, and ClownWhosFeelnDown] and favorited/followed this (110 follows on three chapters? Holy crap).

As for Mirai's OP eyes, I actually can't decide on when she should awaken them. As grifman275 pointed out, she'd be a prime target for Orochimaru during the exams if she had them then but I want to get her used to them before Shippuden since that's when she'll really need them. Any thoughts?

Thanks for reading! 3500+ words for your viewing entertainment.

\/

Chapter Four Teaser:

"You're a Senju!?" Lee gasped, scrambling to his feet and bowing at the waist, "It's an honor to be your friend, Mirai-hime." Mirai's eye twitched as she rolled the scroll closed, whacking him over the head with it none-too-gently. "Knock it off you goober."


	5. Five

A/N: Ya'll need to stop reading my thoughts. You guys are too smart for your own good. Special thanks to those who have reviewed and thank you to those who have favorited/followed this.

* * *

Disclaimer: I no own, you no sue. Savvy?

* * *

Water walking was a bitch.

Seriously.

Gai gave her a basic run-down on how to perform the technique and left her to her own devices which, in hindsight, was one of the worst things he could do.

" _The goal is to continuously emit chakra from the soles of your feet. It's more difficult than the tree walking exercise because you have to constantly adjust your chakra output."_

Oh, it sounded easy enough; focus chakra to your feet and step onto the pond, adjusting the stream of chakra as you went to stay on top of the water.

So she did…and ended up blasting herself about ten feet into the air before hitting the water with a hard smack that knocked the wind out of her.

It would have been comical had she not almost fucking _drowned_. She would have too if Gai wasn't there to haul her out by the back of her shirt.

"Are you okay Mirai-san?" he asked, setting her on the ground and kneeling before her. She dry-heaved, body wracked with shivers from both the cold and fear. "Do you want to go home?"

"Y-yeah," she hiccupped, wiping her nose with her sleeve as tears misted in her eyes.

"Do you need me to carry you?" She shook her head 'no', moving to stand before letting out a hiss of pain. She lifted her shirt, seeing her left side beginning to mottle with yellow and purple bruises from hitting the water so hard. Gai frowned though made no motion to pick her up, instead resting a hand on her shoulder and ushering her towards the gate of the training grounds, Lee following closely behind them.

Uguisu-san was not pleased to see Mirai brought home by a Jounin, soaked to the bone with eyes bloodshot from crying. Gai didn't fare much better, withering into a puddle of spandex at Uguisu-san's feet and asking for forgiveness as she scolded him for teaching Mirai anything chakra related when she wasn't even a student yet.

Mirai was mad at both herself and Uguisu-san. Herself because she didn't get it first try (though she didn't know what she had honestly expected) and Uguisu-san because she had forbidden Mirai from having anything else to do with Gai that would put her in danger (read: any sort of interaction with the man whatsoever).

And Uguisu-san's word was law.

Mirai lost her outdoor privileges for the next two weeks though she didn't really mind. It gave her time to recuperate and work on refining her plan to infiltrate the Senju Compound.

It was going about as well as you'd expect which was, to say, not very well at all…

* * *

It was late July when she decided to try again.

After finishing a volunteer session at the hospital, Mirai headed back to the orphanage for the evening. Her curfew was at eight pm because it was summer break for the civilian kids (ninja academy students went year-round) and as such she had been working until later in the day.

She had been working on her water walking but without someone to give her feedback she hadn't progressed very far and was forced to put chakra training on the back burner. Mirai hadn't seen hide or hair of Gai since their first abysmal meeting and she didn't know whether to be relieved or dismayed.

"Taidama," she greeted her caretaker, slipping her shoes off in the front hall and tucking them into her designated cubby.

"Okaeri," Uguisu-san replied with a faint smile, setting the basket of clothes she had been carrying on the ground. "I have something for you."

Mirai cocked her head to the side in question. "Your birthday is coming up. You will be turning six, yes?" Mirai nodded. "You plan on attending the academy?"

"Yes Uguisu-san. I already spoke with Tsuneo-sensei and I'm going to take the entrance exam in a week."

"I have something I'd like you to have. It's from when I was a kunoichi many moons ago," Uguisu chuckled softly, resting a hand on her hip and giving her a fond smile. "You look like someone I used to go to school with. If you had white hair you could be a dead ringer for her, actually."

Mirai raised her head slowly, gold eyes widening a fraction. "What do you mean?"

"Mmhm. She was the top kunoichi in our class though I guess that's to be expected when you're a Senju," Uguisu said, strolling back down the hall. Mirai grabbed the basket, nearly pitching headfirst into it in her haste to follow Uguisu.

"Wh-what happened to her?"

"Hm? Oh, she graduated when she was seven and got tossed onto the front lines with the other children. She was a very gifted sensor, almost on par with the Nidaime, though I guess that wasn't a surprise either."

"Why's that?" Mirai asked.

"Well, the Nidaime was her grandfather," Mirai's jaw dropped in shock at that new bit of information.

"Holy shit," Mirai found herself saying before she could stop, wincing when Uguisu's hand came down on her head.

"Watch your mouth," she scolded Mirai.

"What happened to her?" Mirai asked, shifting the basket in her arms when they got to her room.

Uguisu rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "I don't know. She retired from active duty, something about settling down and marrying some man she met on a mission to Grass."

Mirai swallowed past the lump in her throat, asking the question she was certain she already knew the answer to;

"What was her name Uguisu-san?"

"Hotaru."

* * *

"Ohmigod, ohmigod, ohmigod," Mirai paced the length of her room nervously, running her hands through her hair in agitation.

After Uguisu helped her get her laundry put away she gave Mirai a scroll on chakra techniques that had sat untouched on her bed for the past hour.

Mirai knew her mother's name was Hotaru Senju, a decommissioned Jounin from Konohagakure. Her father's name was Naoki Reizei, a former ANBU Operative from Kusagakure. Tsunade Senju was her second cousin and the Nidaime Hokage was now her great grandfather!?

Mirai flopped back onto her bed, staring at the ceiling. It was a lot to take in all at once and in an attempt to distract herself Mirai turned her attention to the scroll on her pillow.

Unfurling it she laid in across her lap, trailing her fingers over the writing.

"Stormwalking? What the hell is that?" she murmured, sitting cross-legged and beginning to read.

From what she gathered the technique originated in Suna. It required the user calling their chakra forth and layering it around their body in a thin shell that diverted sand and other small particles away from them.

Mirai glanced at her hands before looking up at the empty wash basin sitting on the table. She lurched from her bed, grabbing it and taking it to the kitchen to fill with water. Sand was nonexistent in Konoha aside from sand brought in to pad training grounds and to teach ninjas how to walk on it without sinking. Mirai wondered if she could use such a technique to divert other substances away from her body, like water droplets.

She carefully carried the basin back to her room, setting it on the floor and getting comfortable behind it. As with most chakra exercises meditation was key to perfecting them and she slipped into a daze, letting her chakra flow freely throughout her body and stimulating her coils.

After several minutes she opened her eyes, gritting her teeth as a blue glow enveloped her hand. She tried to smooth it out, seeing it waver and shift. It was tedious, taking several minutes before it finally evened out.

Holding her breath Mirai dipped her hand slowly in the water, gnawing on her bottom lip. To her immense surprise the water parted around her fingers smoothly, leaving her hand dry when she removed it. A strangled gasp escaped her when she dropped the technique. It was such a grueling task, both physically and mentally.

She was still satisfied with her progress, even if she was breathing heavily, muscles and tendons trembling with a mixture of heated energy and exhaustion.

A breathless laugh escaped her as she tumbled back onto the floor, gazing at the ceiling overhead. She felt on top of the world, like she could do anything and with that mindset firmly in place she decided to give her plan one last go.

* * *

There was a series of tunnels that ran beneath Konohagakure separate from the sewer system. They were rarely used anymore as most ninjas were more comfortable traversing rooftops than underground caverns. From what Mirai knew they all led to the emergency bunkers beneath the Ninja Academy and Hokage Mountain in case of an enemy invasion.

Mirai crouched in the basement, running her hand over the seal placed on the trap door. The anime never really explained the art of fūinjutsu, most of what she knew about it was gotten from scrolling through the forums and even then she wasn't sure what was canon and what was fanon.

Fūinjutsu sounded really badass. Being able to seal anything she wanted into a scroll for later use would be a really handy skill to have in her arsenal. From her stints at the hospital Mirai discovered med-nins used it to accelerate their patient's healing, transport materials, provided an alternative to anesthetic, etc. The list literally went on and on. It was just another reason why she wanted to learn medical ninjutsu.

Back to the matter at hand though.

Mirai reached up, concealing the lower half of her face with her shemagh and gathered chakra in her hand, pressing her palm against the door.

The seal glowed a faint shade of turquoise before vanishing into the wood. Several moments passed before she heard a soft 'click' as the lock unlatched. Mirai smirked, lifting the door before dropping down into the tunnel.

A grunt escaped her when she landed hard on her feet, pain rocketing through her ankles. She hadn't received any formal training on how to fall properly, working mostly on the academy-style katas, and made a mental note to focus on that next.

She brushed the dust from her charcoal-gray capris, hissing softly as she limped onwards. She clicked on her flashlight while she traversed the tunnels. All she needed to do was find a ladder that led to street level, figure out where she was in relation to the compound and continue on from there.

She had wandered for a good twenty minutes before coming across a ladder. She raced up it, pushing her shoulder against the hatch in an attempt to open it though it was stuck fast. Assuming the seals worked both ways she pushed chakra into the door, seeing it slide open after a few seconds.

Pulling herself up Mirai glanced around, figuring she was in the cellar of a restaurant in the food district, judging by the scent of curry rice.

She tried to ignore the way her mouth began salivating, creeping up the stairs and slipping out the door-

Only to realize she was in the middle of someone's home and that 'someone' was none other than the Third Hokage looking quite spiffy in an apron and holding a ladle like he would a katana…

* * *

"Would you like some more to eat Mirai-chan?"

"N-no thank you," she stammered, ducking her head in embarrassment as he refilled her cup. "Um, I-I'm really-."

"It's strange," he cut her off, taking a seat across from her at the table as her jaw shut with an audible click. "I am curious as to how you were able to access the tunnels. There's only a handful of entrances and all of them are rather well hidden." He rested his elbows on the table, steepling his fingers together and looked at her solemnly.

"Uh-I-I just-um-activated the seals on the doors. There's one in the cellar of the orphanage," she admitted. "I-I'm really sorry for intruding and I-."

"Yes, yes, I figured as much," he waved his hand dismissively though Mirai remained silent. "They haven't been used actively since the Third War, with good reason I suppose."

"Wh-what do you mean? If I knew they were dangerous I-."

"They aren't. The reason why is because the only ninjas capable of activating the seals have, for the most part, died out."

Mirai blinked slowly, allowing his words to sink in before her eyes widened in realization.

"You mean-?"

"They were created by the Shodaime during the Founding of Konoha. His wife designed the seals that would keep the doors locked until needed."

"Which means-?"

"-only those of Senju or Uzumaki heritage can activate them," Hiruzen finished, taking a drink of milk and dabbing at his mouth with his napkin. "Which brings me to my next point; how you were able to activate them."

Mirai swallowed thickly, staring at her half-empty plate. "I thought since they were designed as a sort of contingency plan that anyone could do it."

"If that were the case don't you think we'd have enemy ninjas creeping around beneath our noses constantly?"

She shrugged halfheartedly, "I guess, but I assumed any Konoha ninja could use them. Why else would they be there?"

Hiruzen fell silent for a moment and Mirai was all-but squirming in her chair waiting for him to speak. "You speak of the crisis tunnels leading to the bunkers, not the-?" His mouth shut with an audible click as she arched a brow. Was he implying that there was another set of tunnels beneath the village unknown to its inhabitants?

 _Underneath the underneath, huh…?_

Mirai frowned, realizing she wasn't going to get any more answers as he locked his eyes on hers. "Uguisu-san has informed me of your rapid development during your stay at Sukairīchi. She tells me you have been working on chakra exercises since before you were three years old."

Mirai tried not to cringe at the accusation, marveling at how quickly he shifted gears. She should've known such things wouldn't go unnoticed in a shinobi village.

Pulling a deep breath of cool air into her lungs Mirai addressed the earlier topic, "I can't be a Senju. Nohara-san told me that I have no living relatives-."

"Nohara-san was under orders not to disclose your heritage," he replied calmly.

' _Should've known,'_ she thought sourly to herself once more. Konoha was a village founded on secrets after all.

"This should clear up any misgivings you may have," Hiruzen said, standing from his chair and retrieving a scroll from a side room. "It's a record of your birth. An ANBU team brought it back with them almost six years ago after…well…"

He didn't have to finish his sentence. Mirai knew full-well what he was implying. "It's a record of your birth to Hotaru and Naoki Reizei."

"So I'm-."

"Mirai Senju. Your mother gave you her maiden name. You're lucky she had this on her when she-."

"Was killed?" Mirai supplied much too casually, eliciting a frown from the Hokage. He knelt beside her, taking her hand in his and looking more the part of a weary grandfather than badass ninja.

"I am sorry for your loss Mirai. I assume she was carrying this in order to get you citizenship in Konohagakure."

"Where did you find this?" she finally asked.

"Shortly after we found you nestled in a crib in the Yondaime's residence."

Mirai swallowed thickly, looking down at her lap. She couldn't say she really missed her parents, considering she wasn't around them all that long and Uguisu-san had become something of a surrogate mother to her in their stead. But still-

"So what's next?" Mirai asked, glancing over at the Hokage.

"What do you want to happen next?"

"I don't know," she admitted honestly. ' _I didn't think I'd get this far…'_

"As a clan heiress you are entitled to a portion of your clan's property and funds."

' _You mean whatever Tsunade hasn't burned through yet,'_ Mirai thought to herself, lips twitching at the corners as she suppressed the urge to grin.

"If you wish we can speak more about this at a later date. I've been told you will be attending the ninja academy."

It wasn't a question so Mirai didn't address it as such, getting straight to the point. "I want to be a medical ninja."

"Ah," his eyes widened a fraction at those words. "You are a bit young to be deciding what you want to specialize in. Maybe you will find something else that interests you on your journey through the academy."

She got the feeling he had no intention of letting her pursue a path in medical ninjutsu, not when she had such potential in ninjutsu.

"I guess," she muttered, stretching her legs out in front of her and pushing her chair away from the table.

"It's quite late," he announced, standing from her side and resting a hand on her shoulder. "You need to get back to Sukairīchi before Uguisu-san finds out you've been missing. Would you like an escort?"

"No thank you," Mirai replied. "It's right down the road." She figured he'd send an ANBU to watch her regardless and allowed him to usher her to the door.

"Have a good evening Mirai-hime," he said, giving her a warm smile that she weakly returned.

"You as well, Hokage-Sama," she said, bowing at the waist as she trotted down the sidewalk.

It was only when she was out of sight of his home did she withdraw the scroll she had stolen from the waistband of her pants, smirking slightly.

It hadn't been a wasted trip after all.

* * *

Two weeks later Mirai took the entrance exam to the ninja academy. She discovered it wasn't so much an 'exam' as it was a placement test.

The written portion was a piece of cake though she struggled with the physical half. She was easily outstripped during the running portion by the clan kids, only realizing halfway through it that they were unconsciously channeling chakra to their muscles to enhance their speed. She didn't want to try though for fear of hurting her muscles and got through it on sheer willpower alone.

She was still considered first-tier among most of the kunoichi prospects though second in general among the other students.

After lunch they were told they'd receive their class placements within the next few days, leaving Mirai to trudge back to the orphanage tiredly.

"Mirai-chan! Wait up!" Her spirit was immediately lifted upon hearing that boisterous voice she had come to love. An elated laugh escaped her when he picked her up suddenly, spinning her around once before setting her on the ground.

"Hey Lee," she greeted her best friend when he fell into step alongside her.

"How are you doing? The first day is always the worst," he said though Mirai waved her hand dismissively.

"Nah, it's alright. Nothing I can't handle," she gave him a reassuring smile he easily returned. "How's everything with you? How's your training with Gai-sensei going?"

"It is wonderful. I have learned much under his tutelage. What about you? Anything interesting happen lately?"

The brunette froze up at those words for a moment. She had been weighing her decision to tell Lee her heritage since she obtained solid proof two weeks earlier. There wouldn't really be any benefit to it, aside from being able to boast that she's a Senju and not some nameless orphan.

Then there was the whole thing about a secret series of channels beneath the freaking village she just discovered. Part of her wanted to investigate them further but she had a feeling the Hokage would be keeping a more watchful eye on her now that she 'knew' of her ancestry. He didn't forbid her from telling others but she didn't feel like announcing it to everyone and their mothers.

"Actually, I did find out something interesting," she said slowly, turning to face Lee. "But you have to promise not to tell anyone else, okay?"

"Not even Gai-sensei?" Mirai chewed her lower lip for a moment before answering.

"Not even Gai-sensei," she agreed as he saluted her.

"Of course Mirai-chan! I can keep a secret!" he announced loudly to the entire world as Mirai brought a hand to her forehead in exasperation.

Mirai glanced up and down the street before looking him in the eye. "Maybe we should talk about this somewhere a bit more private?"

* * *

His outburst was every bit what she expected.

"You are a Senju!?" he gasped, scrambling off the bed and onto his feet, bowing at the waist. "It is an honor to be your friend, Mirai-hime."

Mirai's eye twitched as she rolled the scroll closed, bopping him over the head with it none too gently. "Knock it off you goober," she scolded him.

"S-sorry," he stammered, rubbing his abused head. "We learned about the Senju Clan in class today, how they were so widely feared and respected as shinobi. To be a descendent of them must be a magnificent thing."

"I wouldn't know about that just yet," Mirai sighed softly, plopping down on his bed once more and curling her knees to her chest. "What if I embarrass myself in the academy?"

"I cannot imagine you doing that," Lee replied, taking a seat on the floor. "Your body was built for battle, given how far back you can trace your ancestry."

"I guess," she agreed, stretching her legs out. "I need to get going though. I'm helping Momo-san cook dinner. Thanks for listening. You've always been a great friend."

"You do not need to thank me for that. I will always be here for you Mirai, no matter what. Tell Momo-san and Uguisu-san I said 'hi'."

"Can do."

* * *

It was dark when she left his apartment. The smell of ozone lingered in the air and she could hear thunder rumbling in the distance. One thing she hated about Konoha summers was the nasty storms that cropped up during them. It was warm almost all year round and it rarely rained but when it did it freaking _poured_.

Mirai watched civilians hurry for shelter, catching sight of ninjas flickering from rooftop to rooftop. Hugging herself around the middle she picked up the pace, breaking into a light jog.

She felt uneasy and unusually alert. Every instinct in her body warned her of danger, more and more. Mirai's hand went to her right thigh, reaching for a kunai pouch that wouldn't be there for a few years as she spun around, seeing a tall man standing behind her.

He wore bone-white chest armor and arm guards atop a black bodysuit and had a katana lashed to his back. His face was concealed by a white mask that bore the visage of a bird with green paint smeared across it.

Why the hell was ANBU…?

"Mirai Senju-hime," he began, taking a step towards her. "My master wishes to have a word with you."

"And who's your master?" she asked nervously, stomach churning violently as she tasted sour bile on the back of her tongue. Mirai was unable to keep from jumping in surprise when thunder boomed so loudly she could feel the vibrations beneath her feet. The sky was illuminated with flashes of white and violet lightning, making him look all the more menacing as he looked down at her with mismatched eyes.

"Danzō-Sama."

Her blood turned to ice. She knew as much about ROOT as she did about hair relaxers which was, to say, nothing at all. She knew the gist of it, being a subdivision of ANBU directed by one of the village's elders who, according to the forums she read during her First Life, was a man you did not want as your enemy.

"And if I say no?" Mirai asked, twisting her fingers nervously into the fabric of her shorts as the heavens opened up above them.

"I'm afraid you aren't in a position to refuse, Mirai Senju-hime."

She glanced around, waiting for someone to swoop in and take her away from the operative but it seemed like a heroic rescue just wasn't in the cards.

"If you want I can carry you."

The brunette inhaled a quivery breath, casting one last look around before lifting her arms wearily, allowing him to pick her up.

He moved fast, very fast, and a few moments later she was deposited onto a plush pillow before one of the series' most influential villains. The room was dark, lit by sparsely placed candles which cast the majority of it into shadow. She couldn't see any operatives standing guard but she knew they were there.

She had never been afraid of the dark before but had a sinking feeling after this encounter she would be.

"Hello Senju-hime." His voice was low and gravelly, sending chills down her spine as he regarded her with his visible eye. "Would you care for some tea?"

 _When it rained, it poured after all…_

* * *

4000+ words for your viewing entertainment. There is a method to my madness, I promise. The tunnel system sort of cropped up out of nowhere so I'm sorry if I threw anybody with that. I did jump around a bit but we'll be delving into her ninja academy life very soon so that will be entertaining if nothing else. Thanks for reading, sorry for any grammar booboos and hopefully you'll see an update before the holidays for this and my other two Naruto OC-inserts (*insert shameless self-advertising here*). You guys are super-duper swish and I'm happy you all seem to enjoy this so far. Baiii!


	6. Six

A/N: My word, you guys really seem to hate Danzō. Now then, I have seen people asking whether Mirai is going to hook up with someone when she's older and I honestly don't know. At this point I can't really picture her with anyone but maybe you guys can see something I can't.

* * *

Disclaimer: I no own, you no sue, savvy?

* * *

Mirai tucked her legs beneath her, sitting seiza-style and resting her palms on her thighs. She was as nervous as a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs but did her best to keep a straight face.

"Tea?"

"S-sure," she stammered, hating herself for doing so as he poured her a cup. Mirai lifted it to her lips, swirling the amber liquid around and looking for any signs of powder on the rim or surface. Not seeing any and fervently noticing the way he was staring at her Mirai took a long swallow.

It went down smoothly, tasting of apple and cinnamon and warming her up a bit. Mirai folded her hands around her cup, waiting for him to speak.

"I must say, I was surprised to hear Hotaru-sama had a child," he began, adjusting the jacket draped over his shoulders. "I would never have pegged her as mother material."

Mirai bristled like an angry cat at those words, gripping her knees tightly. "I'm sure that given the opportunity she would've been a great mom. She gave her life so I could live mine you know."

"You misunderstand," Danzō replied, taking a drink of his own. "I simply meant that it came as a surprise that such a dedicated kunoichi would give up a life of combat to raise a child."

"You mean you're mad that one of the village's greatest assets defected?"

Danzō was quiet for a moment and when he finally spoke his words sent shivers down her spine. "You are far too astute for your own good, Senju-hime."

Mirai took a sip of tea, ignoring the little voice in her head that reminded her she only had so much left in her cup and that once she was done she'd have to say _something_.

Fortunately he seemed content to do enough talking for the both of them for the time being. "It's rare to see orphans delve into ninja studies so early."

' _Shit,'_ she bemoaned to herself, trying to keep a neutral expression on her face.

"It's a shame Hiruzen kept your lineage hidden from you. You could be a chuunin by now if he didn't do so." Mirai wasn't at all surprised by the fact that the Third didn't tell her, seeing as how he kept Naruto from his-

Speaking of which…

When she thought about it, she didn't remember ever seeing Naruto in the village. Almost six years yet no sign of the endearingly hyperactive jinchuuriki. She hoped her existence hadn't caused such a violent ripple effect that he hadn't even been born or something along those lines.

Tucking a strand of damp brown hair behind her ear she finally responded with a rather snippy, "What do you want?"

"I wish to train you."

Mirai was grateful she'd swallowed the remainder of her tea before he said that otherwise he'd be wearing it.

"I already have a mentor," she said almost automatically. "Maito Gai-senpai has been instructing me in chakra control techniques for the past few months."

"If I recall, your caretaker forbade you from having any contact with the man after a dismal attempt at water walking a few months ago."

She was pleased she didn't sputter for a response, instead taking a moment to gather her thoughts. She felt violated. Who knows how long his henchmen had been watching her? It made her nauseous to think about it so she stopped doing so.

"Why do you want to train me?" she finally asked, very cautious of the massive minefield she was about to walk into. "I'm nothing special. You make it sound like gold runs through my veins instead of blood just because of my last name."

"You are kin to the founder of our village, the Shodai Hokage, a shinobi revered as a god by many because of his unmatched prowess on the battlefield. Hotaru-sama was as skilled a kunoichi as her cousin, Tsunade-sama. You have potential and it would truly be an honor to help you unlock it."

Laughter and annoyance warred inside her. To her surprise (and utter horror), laughter won out.

She tipped her head back, laughing so uncontrollably that tears began streaming down her cheeks. Several minutes had to have passed before she could get herself under control enough to realize he was addressing her.

"May I ask what you find so humorous about my proposal?"

She snapped her jaw closed so fast she swore she heard the enamel crack under the stress. Heat flooded her cheeks and her brain raced to come up with a suitable answer that wouldn't wind up with her meeting the business end of a kunai.

"I-I just thought it was funny that a shinobi of your high status has an interest in an orphan like me," she settled on saying, glancing down at her lap. She was grateful she hadn't gotten her hair cut that day like she'd planned as it hid her face from his gaze.

"You are hardly a nameless orphan Senju-hime. It may surprise you but your great grandfather was actually my sensei. It would be an honor to be able to pass on what he had taught me to you."

' _Like you even know what honor is,'_ she thought scathingly to herself.

"But I'm starting the Academy soon. I'll be busy with that-."

"First year students only attend three days a week for the first year. You will have plenty of time to train on the side."

' _So heads, you win and tails, I lose huh?'_ Mirai liked to think she was old and wise enough (so to speak) to recognize a Catch-22 when she was presented with one and with slumped shoulders she tentatively asked;

"Can I have some time to think about it?"

Judging by the brief look of shock that crossed his face he was just as surprised by her answer as she was. He offered her no quarter however, folding his arms into the sleeves of his jacket.

"You may have three days."

That was three more days than she thought he'd give her. She tried to smile, facial muscles twitching in vain as she tried to complete the motion but found she couldn't do it. Couldn't even attempt a fake one.

"Thank you." It almost made her physically ill to bow to the man, standing from the mat.

He stood from his own, towering over her (then again, everyone did when you were six years old. He was just much more daunting than the other adults). "I will have Tanuki see you out. Have a good evening, Mirai-hime."

She hated hearing her name come from his lips and before she could stop she heard herself say;

"Only my friends may call me as Mirai. You can address me as Senju-sama if you wish."

He didn't recoil at the vitriol in her voice. If anything he seemed more amused than irritated.

"You have your mother's spirit." Her face twisted into a scowl though she held her tongue. She wasn't about to press her luck any more than she had already. She really needed to learn how to control her emotions better if she had any hope of becoming a ninja but hey, she was technically six years old. The occasional outburst wasn't entirely unexpected.

She felt a subtle disturbance in the air around her and moments later a ninja seemingly materialized out of the shadows on the floor (when she really thought about it, he probably did materialize out of them).

"You will accompany her," he ordered the shinobi. They dipped their head lightly in a show of understanding, outstretching an arm towards her and gesturing towards the door. Mirai followed mutely behind him, waiting for him to slide the shoji door open.

"Oh, and by the way," Mirai froze in the threshold, wondering what on earth he wanted that time. "The academy doesn't teach advanced medical ninjutsu. We do."

"And who's 'We'?" she asked, even though she already knew the answer.

"You will find out should you accept my proposal. Good night, Senju _-sama_." He was obviously mocking her and Mirai left without another word, following the ROOT agent down the hallway and out into the rain once more.

* * *

" _What about Lord Third?"_

" _What about him?"_

" _You don't think she's going to tell him?"_

" _I'm not worried about that. We can get, at the very least, two or three years of training in. The Yamanaka Clan won't subject her to a mind walk, she's too young and it could cause irreversible damage. Besides, under my tutelage she will learn to resist mental manipulation."_

" _You think she will agree?"_

 _Danzō glanced over his shoulder at the operative behind him before turning his attention to the young girl walking from his manor with Tanuki shadowing her._

" _I'm afraid she hasn't got much of a choice in the matter…"_

* * *

"What are you doing Mirai?"

She didn't even look up from the map she was studying. "Debating how far away I can get from the village in the next three days."

Lee cocked a brow in confusion. "Why would you want to do that?"

"No reason."

"You were never a good liar, Mirai-chan," she winced at the accusation, folding the map closed and tucking it back into her bag.

"I was just kidding Lee. Jeez," she laughed, waving her hand dismissively. He pursed his lips, eyeing her warily before returning to his katas.

Feeling like she had dodged a bullet Mirai pulled out her notebook, flipping it open to a page she had titled 'School Supplies'. She was making a list of items she needed and had an appointment set up with Hiruzen later that day to speak with him about the so-called 'funds' she was privy to (as well as talk to him about Danzō).

"What else do I need Lee?" she called over to him. Lee glanced up from his handstand, flipping nimbly to his feet and dusting his pants off.

"What do you have so far?"

She tapped her pen against her bottom lip, "I need a new set of clothes. Well, I guess I don't really _need_ them but I want them. Anyways, I need clothes, a beginner's set of weapons, a backpack, note-taking materials, a book on basic flower arranging-," she wrinkled her nose at the thought, "-and I don't know what else."

"You also need 'The Founding of Konoha and her Sister Countries'. The Yamanaka Clan publishes the flower book the academy requires and you can actually have my old Founding textbook. You do not use it after the first year."

"You'll help me find everything, right Lee? I don't wanna go by myself." He nodded several times with a bright, reassuring smile. She had to force down a shiver when the hairs on the back of her neck rose slightly. Ever since she found out that Danzō's goonies had been watching her she had become acutely aware of their presence.

She wondered offhandedly if she could be predisposed to being a sensor since her mother was one. Then again, it could've been because her original world didn't have chakra and she noticed it because it was so foreign to her.

She had discovered when she put some effort forth it was a breeze to search out chakra signatures and it was child's play to sense people she already knew (like Lee and Momo and Uguisu-san). It was also easy to sense others if they weren't concealing their signatures such as that ROOT agent poorly disguised as a civilian hovering around a fruit stand across the street from the orphanage…

…

 _God damn it_ …

* * *

The next morning Mirai got up extra early, wanting to be on time to her meeting with Hiruzen. She didn't have much in way of a fancy wardrobe so she settled on her nicest pair of charcoal-gray capris, a plain white undershirt, and a dark violet vest Momo-san had given her for her sixth birthday. She had even gone so far as to braid her dark hair that morning, wisps of bangs framing her face.

After scarfing down her porridge and making sure her paperwork was in order she lounged about in the front foyer, waiting for Uguisu-san to get ready.

Uguisu-san had offered to accompany her to the meeting with Hiruzen, mostly for support she figured. It _did_ make her feel more comfortable having an adult with her though and she readily agreed.

That and it seemed like ROOT agents were scarce whenever Uguisu-san was around.

"Are you ready?" Mirai glanced up in surprise, jumping to her feet.

"Yup!" she exclaimed, seeing Uguisu-san smile warmly.

"Good. Let's get this taken care of. We have to finish shopping for your school supplies today," Uguisu-san said, ushering her out the door.

"Actually," Mirai trailed off when the matron looked over her shoulder. "I was gonna go shopping with Lee-kun."

"Lee-kun is more than welcome to join us." Mirai pursed her lips in annoyance but held her tongue, following her obediently to the Hokage Tower.

It was seven in the morning and the place was already bustling with activity. She couldn't help but flinch reflexively whenever she saw an ANBU agent vanish into the crowd. Making sure to stick close to her chaperone Mirai trailed up the stairs to the Hokage's office.

After exchanging words with the secretary operating the desk before the office the pair was ushered inside.

"Ah, Mirai-hime, Uguisu-san. I hope you're both well this morning," Hiruzen greeted them, standing from his desk. Mirai clutched her papers to her chest, feeling unusually shy all of a sudden.

"We are," Uguisu-san replied, bowing at the waist while Mirai followed suit a beat later. Once pleasantries had been exchanged they took their seats before him.

Mirai listened halfheartedly to Hiruzen explaining her rights as a clan heir and how she was considered the heiress of the Senju since Tsunade had defected. There was a decent sum of money left to the Senju name, which surprised Mirai (given Tsunade's gambling habits). She wondered if it was because she felt part of it belonged to Mirai's mother and never used it because of that…

When Uguisu-san was finishing up some paperwork to have a bit of money placed in a personal account for Mirai she suddenly blurted out;

"Who's Danzō Shimura?"

It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

"Why do you ask Mirai?" Hiruzen asked softly, leaning his forearms on his desk and eyeing her wearily.

Figuring she had nothing to lose she bulldozed onwards, "He approached me two nights ago with an offer to train me."

Mirai pointedly ignored the looks of alarm exchanged between the two adults and gave a weak shrug. "I mean, I know he's on the shinobi council but that's about it. He had an ANBU agent escort me to his manor to visit with him."

"What did he ask?" It was Uguisu-san who spoke that time, turning in her chair and resting a hand on Mirai's shoulder. The motherly look she gave Mirai almost brought tears to the younger girl's eyes.

"He asked how I was and we had some tea. Kinda badmouthed my mom and then offered to train me. He said I had three days to decide which means he'll expect an answer tomorrow. I wanted to know your opinion. Should I let him train me?"

"If you-."

"Absolutely not," Uguisu-san said firmly, cutting off the Third Hokage in midsentence. "I refuse to allow that-that _man_ to have any interaction with Mirai-chan."

Hiruzen seemed to wither at those words before straightening in his chair. "Shimura-san is a seasoned shinobi. We were teammates once upon a time and he is very knowledgeable. I have no doubt he could mold Mirai-hime into an excellent kunoichi-."

"I will not let him have her," Uguisu-san practically snarled, standing from her chair so abruptly it hit the ground with a sharp bang.

Mirai found herself unable to breathe all of a sudden. A weight had settled on her chest and she felt the sharp edge of a blade running along the curve of her throat. She glanced down, seeing blood drenching the front of her shirt and covering her hands. She was choking, drowning. So much pain and blood and _I'm dying again-ohgodpleasehelpme-_

"Calm yourself Uguisu," Hiruzen commanded and just like that the feeling was gone. She felt as though she had been doused with a bucket of cold water, body trembling violently as she fought the urge to vomit.

Was that what killing intent felt like…?

"Are you alright Mirai?" Her head jerked up in surprise.

"Wh-what?" she managed to croak.

"You're crying." She reached up to touch her cheek with a shaky hand, feeling tears slick on her fingers.

"I-I'm f-f-fine," she stammered through chattering teeth.

"I'm sorry," Uguisu-san murmured, dropping to her knees and enveloping the Senju in a warm embrace. "I'm so sorry Mirai-chan."

"S-s'okay," she choked out, burying her face in the side of her caretaker's neck and inhaling the faintest scent of lavender. "You didn't m-m-mean t-to."

"It is ultimately your decision Mirai," she glanced over the matron's shoulder at the Hokage. "I will tell you that your training will be rigorous and unforgiving but you will be a better shinobi for it in the long run."

"So you think I should-?"

"Mirai, no-," Uguisu-san began to say but Mirai didn't give her the chance.

"All I'm saying is-," she trailed off. She had no desire to disappear into ROOT but if the Hokage had her back perhaps there would be a lesser chance of that happening. She needed all the training she could get if she had any hope of surviving the shit-storm that was going to commence when she was a teenager. "Maybe I could train with him a few days a week. Just for a year so I understand the basics and I get up to snuff with the other clan kids."

"I don't think that's a good idea-."

"We could draw up some sort of contract, right? I mean, I could pay him to train me and everything."

"Money isn't the sort of reimbursement that man wants-." Hiruzen gave Uguisu-san a warning look.

"It's up to you. If you want Uguisu-san can help you figure out some terms and conditions to go over with Shimura-san."

Mirai nodded once before turning her attention to the matron. "Will you help me Uguisu-san?"

The woman pursed her lips, clearly not onboard with the whole thing but a few moments later she sighed in defeat. "If that's what you truly want Mirai-chan then I will assist you."

"Great! So that's settled. Anything else?" Mirai asked quickly, wanting to get out of the office as soon as possible. The tension in the air was nearly palpable and suffocating.

"That should be it," Hiruzen said slowly, sitting back in his chair and shuffling through some paperwork on his desk. Mirai stood, bowing politely as she headed for the door. "Oh, if I may have a word with you Uguisu."

"Sure thing Hokage-Sama," Uguisu-san said, turning to Mirai. "I'll be out in a moment."

"Okay," she replied as the door shut in her face.

Mirai waited a moment before pressing her ear against it. The voices were muffled but she could make out most of what was being said.

"We can only keep her from him for so long. After she graduates she will be considered an adult like the rest of her peers and she will no longer be under your protection or mine."

"So long as I live she will be under my protection."

"I am grateful Mirai has someone like you in her life."

"I owe it to her mother. They look so similar, you know? If only Mirai had white hair-."

"I did see the resemblance."

"Could you tell Danzō if another of his ROOT operatives set foot on my property I will not hesitate to kill them?"

"I'll be sure to pass on the message."

"I'd appreciate it."

"Well, I won't keep you any longer. She's eavesdropping-."

Mirai flung herself onto the bench outside the office as soon as she heard those words, crossing her legs neatly just as the door opened and Uguisu-san stormed out.

"Let's go Mirai-chan. We have much to get done today and not a lot of time to do it."

"Yes ma'am."

* * *

The walk back to the orphanage was silent. Mirai figured she had pissed off Uguisu-san by saying she wanted Danzō to train her.

She wasn't that worried about being absorbed into ROOT in all honesty. That's why she was going to knit her own security blanket, to prevent that from happening. It helped having friends in high places.

She had just about reached her bedroom, intent on collecting a notebook and pen to work on a training agreement when she heard a voice say;

" _He's going to use you. No one will ever find you, no one will ever go looking_ ," Mirai froze in mid-step, looking over her shoulder uneasily at Uguisu-san.

"W-what did you say?"

"I said I'll see you shortly," Uguisu-san answered, giving her a quizzical look. "Are you feeling alright?"

"I'm great. I'll see you in a little bit," she replied shakily, waiting until Uguisu-san was out of sight before shutting her eyes and leaning against the doorframe for a moment. Several beats passed before she reopened them to narrow slits of molten gold. "Too bad Danzō doesn't realize _I'm_ the one who'll be using _him_ …"

* * *

Please don't hurt me. I have a good reason *cowers beneath table*. So yeah. Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed and if you didn't, I'm sorry *cringes*. Sorry for the delay as well and thanks to everyone who has favorited/followed this and special thanks to anyone who's reviewed. Ya'll are super sweet and very encouraging so thank you. Till next time.


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